69 DAYS UNTIL THE ELECTION
Yeah, we know - it’s Republican Convention week. If you’re watching, you need some relief. Even if you're not watching, you need some relief. We're here for you! Below we have our Sanity-Saving Events every day this week for you to reduce your anxiety.
Think of it - you can counteract the disinformation coming out of the RNC Convention and sign up to make a difference at our fun events below.
Oh the power you have! A lot of content today. First is some info and then the sign-ups.
CALL TO ACTION
Sen. Casey – Phila office 215-405-9660; D.C. office 202-224-6324; email link
Sen. Toomey – Phila office 215-241-1090; D.C. office 202-224-4254; email link
The House passed the Delivering for America Act over the weekend to counteract Trump's attempt to destroy the Postal Services and make it harder for voters to vote by mail. Now it’s the Senate’s turn. During Postmaster General DeJoy’s hearing he confirmed he will not reverse the terrible changes he's made and he won't replace the 671 sorting machines he's ordered to be removed. We need to tell our Senators this is unacceptable.
1. Call our Senators and tell them to support the Delivering for America Act. See the details about the legislation here.
2. Call our Senators and demand they pass the Heroes Act with $25 billion in USPS funding and $3.6 billion in election funding. See the details about the Heroes Act here.
And what would a week be without more questions about vote by mail?
We told you there would still be moving pieces for a while and here are some more. DO NOT STRESS OVER THIS. It will get sorted out and once the final decisions are made, we’ll deal with them with information and strategies.
Here’s the latest info and where you can find out more. Take a breath.
1. On August 19 the Department of State came out with this guidance on Mail-In and Absentee voting. In part it provides for what counties need to do to set up their vote by mail processes.
2. Yesterday’s Inquirer had an article about the Pa. Republicans’ proposal for changes for mail-in voting
The article lays out that the proposed legislation would do the following, but we don’t know what the outcome will be.
move the deadline to apply for a mail ballot earlier, to 15 days before Election Day;
allow voters to return ballots only to their own polling place on Election Day, county courthouses, or to the permanent offices of the Board of Elections (no drop boxes or satellite offices);
allow counties to “pre-canvass” mail ballots (opening and counting those ballots) as early as 8 a.m. Saturday;
allow voters to be poll watchers anywhere in the state;
allow voters to be poll workers at any polling place in their county;
require counties to email, call, or text any voters whose mail ballot signatures do not match what is on file so they can fix their signatures before their ballots are rejected.
3. Join this virtual forum with our friends at Turn PA Blue and the PA Dems.
Keep Calm and Make a Plan to Vote with Turn PA Blue
Thursday, August 27, 6:30-8:00 PM ET
Join election attorney, Adam Bonin, and Voter Protection Director for Biden's PA Coordinated campaign, Kay Yu, for an update on PA voting. They will cover options for voting in the 2020 election, updates on pending lawsuits and legislation, and ways that you can get involved to ensure every Pennsylvanian can cast their ballot safely and on time in this election. Sign Up HERE!
YOUR SANITY–SAVING EVENTS THIS WEEK. SEE YOU SOON!
We’ll be on zoom for all of the events. The links are in your confirmation email.
TONIGHT
PHONE BANK FOR JOE BIDEN. 6:00 p.m.
Sign up here. Short training first and then we make calls.
Join the Zoom meeting here:
Meeting ID: 870 5884 6794
TOMORROW 8/26
1. Cards & Coffee – 11:00 a.m.
Sign up here. Pick your dates when you sign up.
2. Text Bank – 4:00 p.m.
We’ll take care of your training at the beginning of the event.
THURSDAY 8/27
Cards & Cocktails 6:00 p.m.
FRIDAY 8/28
Phone Bank 3:00 p.m.
Sign up here. Short training first, then we’ll make calls.
SUNDAY 8/30
Postcards Over Brunch/Office Hours 12:00 noon
NEXT MONDAY 8/31
Text Bank 3:00 p.m.
Sign up here. We’ll train you at the beginning of the event.
SPONSOR 1,000 VOTERS!
Our postcard project has been wildly more successful than we anticipated. As a result, we’ve outstripped our budget. We now need to buy another 100,000 postcards to finish the project. Imagine that! Our original goal was 50,000 voters reached and now we are up to over 135,000 voters and counting.
Many of you are working like crazy writing postcards. But if your schedule doesn’t permit you to write cards with us, please consider making a contribution to the cause. Many of you have already and we thank you. Just a $30.00 donation will help us send postcards to 1,000 voters!
POSTCARDS RECAP
Here is our progress to date:
Remember, our original goal was 50,000 postcards. Whoa.
20,000 – Weekly average number of addresses we’re sending to our postcard writers. That’s up from 8,000 per week only a four weeks ago!
66 – The number of Philly wards we’ve sent addresses for. That’s all of them!
775+ – The number of our volunteers writing postcards.
135,000+ – The number of postcard addresses we’ve sent to postcard writers so far.
50,000 – The number of addresses we sent as part of our project to an artist postcard group in Ithaca, NY.
That’s a total of over 185,000 postcards – and counting . . .
Click this link to join our awesome team!
Read about our beautiful artist-created postcards here.
Here’s how it works
1. We will supply you with our fabulous original art postcards for free. You will need to only purchase 35-cent postcard stamps at this link.
2. The script includes two pre-printed labels and we will deliver those to you with the postcards.
3. We will email you the instructions for writing the cards and the script.
4. You’ll write the postcards and mail them as you complete them.
5. Join a Zoom postcard party or write cards at home on your own. It all helps! You can also join our Zoom office hours to say hi and answer questions, and some other fun stuff along the way. Click this link to sign up.
TOMORROW – POLL OBSERVER TRAINING WITH PA DEMS
Poll Observers are our first line of defense against voter intimidation and confusion at the polls, and we're building the largest team of volunteers PA has ever had! Learn how to protect in-person voting. Join this Poll Observer program tomorrow at 6 PM.
NEXT WEEK - POLL WORKER INFORMATION SESSION
The city needs more poll workers because the average poll worker’s age is about 60 years old and COVID poses a health concern for them.
Our friends at Fairmount Votes is hosting an informational event for anyone who lives in Philadelphia. Sign up to find out about working at the polls.
Poll Worker Information Session
Wednesday, September 2 (7:00-8:00 pm) (On zoom)
Fairmount Votes says you should only sign up for this session if you can:
Be available for a 15 + hour day on Tuesday, November 3.
Travel to any part of the city to work the polls.
Commit to working the polls no matter the COVID situation.
CENSUS PHONE BANK
Fill out your Census form now! Tell your family and friends to do it too. And spend an hour and phone bank to tell Philadelphians the same.
Here is the phone bank link for this week.
CHECK OUT THESE FANTASTIC POSTCARD PHOTOS!
We love these cards from Sarah, Lisa, and Beth, especially the extra accents on them! Thank you all. Keep 'em coming!
Stay safe. Wear a mask. Be kind.